Why is my phone saying 1x and not 3g? it also wont send texts or load any internet service.

1x is the data service thats older and slower than 3G, for all intents and purposes 1x synonymous with "2g".

It is really slow, like 56k dial up speed slow. When you see 1x on your phone it basically has really bad service where you are and have difficulty sending texts and using the Internet because of your service